Emotionally Intelligent Leaders and Their Impact on Followers Performance and Well-Being - Essay Example

Emotionally Intelligent leaders and their Impact on Followers Performance and Well-Being Critical Review of Literature Matthews (2004), Blell (2011) & Chakraborty (2009) define emotional intelligence as the potential to comprehend and control the emotions of a person himself and the others around him at a particular entourage. The advantage of such intelligence is to allow a person to act or behave in a way that is suitable and acceptable at workplace. Wharam (2009) & Singh (2006) describe emotional intelligence as a must have attribute for the leaders of an organization or any project. Emotional intelligence allows a leader to understand its people and how to extract work out of them. Sometimes it requires being calm in situations that are very intense and so the leader must do. He should remain calm so that the employees working under him or her could attain the goals given to them. Goleman (1996) believed that there were 5 major components to emotional intelligence. They were self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. The more a leader will look to control and monitor these elements the more his emotional intelligence would be and the chances of employees performing better would be higher. Goleman (1996) described being self aware means to know how one’s emotions and behavior will affect others. Horn (2013) & Mortiboys (2005) believe that if a leader is self aware of his situation in an organization then it has a very positive impact on the employees. A self aware leader would always know the mission of his project and will always make guidelines accordingly. When employees know what the mission of their organization or project is then it automatically becomes easy to follow directions. Following directions laid by the team leader most often leads to success as the project is designed and led by him or her. Gotshal (2007) believes that the reason for failure of 60% of business in the USA is the reason because the mission of the company and its projects are not well dictated by the leader. Employees are able to perform better with a leader who is self aware of himself. A self aware leader will always know what the company is in the market for and how to achieve what it has set foot on. A self aware leader looks to guide the employees on consistent basis. Collins (2011), Jennings (2012), Badaracco (1989) & Crandall (2007) believe that a leader who is self aware of himself also makes all the goals of the project clear so that it becomes easy for the employees to achieve them. Employees perform better when they know how and what to get within a period of time. A self aware leader sets realistic goals that make it easy for the employees to follow and achieve. This happens when the leader analyzes the situation of the project, where it’s leading to, how it could further be improved and the best possible results that can be attained out of it. When the analysis is done it is translated to the employees who can perform to their fullest knowing the goals are realistic and well thought off by the leader. So a leader who is self aware does not make random strategies but analyzes the situation around him. Gallagher (2012), Gonzalez (2012) & Rothstein (2012) elucidate one other advantage of self awareness that leads to the performance of employees. A self aware leader always knows of his strengths and weaknesses. In such case he has the advantage to improve on his weakness. Only a leader who is self aware of himself can recognize and look to improve his weakness. For example if a leader feels that the communication between the marketing and customer service is not handled well then he can penetrate ways to link up the two departments. Often it is discovered that employees get restless, lazy and inefficient when they are neglected or are not linked up well with the immediate department. A leader who is self aware will stop this from happening. He will try to strengthen all his weaknesses so that the employees get the best environment to work on. Goleman (1996) describes leaders who regulate themselves place special attention to work ethics and that a certain set of decorum must be followed in work place. Self regulation means to set oneself as an example for the others in the work place to follow. Rothstein (2010), Northouse (2010) & Day (2008) are of the opinion that when a leader self regulates himself then he is completely in control of his temperament. A leader talks calmly with his employees even when they make mistakes so that they do not feel too guilty about the mistakes they have made. Rothstein (2010), Northouse (2010) & Day (2008) believe that there are more chances that an employee will learn better if he has made a mistake and was treated fairly. When a leader gets angry and loses his temper, the employee at the other end feels disgusted and insulted. A self regulated leader knows that mistakes are bound to happen no matter what. It was not an intentional mistake made by the employee and thus he or she must be treated well. Messick (2008) discovered that people are most efficient in working environments that are run on strong ethical grounds. Leaders who are display good ethical behavior are more likely to be followed in a similar fashion by their employees. Friedman (2007), Vallance (2001), Cheney (2010) & Reamer (2006) much of the time is wasted looking and doing other things during work hours. A regulated leader is not the one who is laid back and wastes time of the organization. He is someone proactive and always moving around to see if the rest of the work force is like him or not. Such leaders create a very positive impression. They encourage followers to move and work like them. This Friedman (2007), Vallance (2001), Cheney (2010) & Reamer (2006) define ethics as the act of behaving in an appropriate way in a particular setting. Work ethics means to behave in a way that is acceptable in a working environment. A leader that follows the correct code of conduct tends to focus on work related to the project. Social life is set apart. Chatting and surfing through social media websites, blogs or watching television in the room are examples of a leader who is not following the right ethics at work place. When a leader does not follow the right ethics then the followers also look to do the same. This decreases the performance of the project and the company overall. There are examples of many companies that had appointed leaders who were not faithful to their jobs and had to pay a high price because of it. The leader is the true source of inspiration for the staff and if he does not work with dedication then the staff under him will also most likely not. The decline of Kmart and Worldcom is attributed to the poor leadership of its top leaders. Goleman (1996) describes emotional intelligent leaders as very motivating. This is also one of the five elements that make up such kind of leaders. Motivation is a drive that tends to push the work force to give that extra bit of effort required to achieve a task. Goleman (1996) believes that motivation is not only helpful for the work force but also for the leader in achieving the overall goals of the project. Adair (2009), Maddock (1998) & Hoffmann (2005) describe an emotional intelligent leader as a person who keeps motivating himself. There is nothing impossible for such types of leaders and they are very innovative with their thinking. Everything is doable for them and they try to preach this to their followers. If a leader wants to motivate his employees to perform better he must know where motivation comes from. The leader must know if it is the perks or better working conditions that lifts the morale of the work force. Concentration can be placed on improving the package or working conditions or any other area that drives employees to perform better. The followers or the employees would like to work for a leader who is determined to do something innovative or constantly encourage them to perform a task. Adair (2009), Maddock (1998) & Hoffmann (2005) believe that encouragement and appreciation is very important for the work force. Both encouragement and appreciation are two of the most important elements of motivating the work force. Encouragement and appreciation works for the work force when it comes from the leader. It makes the followers believe that the leader is behind them and is backing them to carry on the task. When the task is finished some appreciation must be given so that the employee may feel his worth in the task. If the work force is not encouraged then he might not even push hard or make maximum efforts. If he is not appreciated then he would not feel special and may not put much effort in the next project as he may thing that all his efforts are gone to waste. An emotional intelligent leader regards all these aspects and knows how important encouragement and appreciation is for the followers. The followers are likely to perform much better under a leader who is highly motivating. Goleman (1996) believes that empathy is very important element for emotional intelligent leaders. Leaders with empathy consider the perspective of their followers and consider their feelings before taking any actions. Similarly the followers feel that they are being listened and have worth in the project. It keeps them contented and they tend to perform better. Etin (2012), Pavlovich (2013) & Junarso (2008) are of the opinion that that employee under an emphatic leader feels more relaxed as they know that they will never be ill-treated. They know that if some member of the team is trying to cheat in any way the leader would not allow any such activity. An emphatic leader, as suggested by. Etin (2012), Pavlovich (2013) & Junarso (2008) build a team and manage it. It becomes the responsibility of the leader to take care of all the employees. There is no favoritism and everyone in the team is liable for his or her actions. This is what is the most comforting to employees. They know that their efforts are being recorded and in the end will be recognized by the leader. The work force also knows that any one not performing to the fullest will be questioned and thus this makes them to work at their fullest. The most important part of working under an emphatic leader is that the employees know that the leader would listen to their feedback. If the working conditions are unbearable or if the machinery is outdated then the employees may talk to the leader. More important decisions regarding the project can be consulted. The leader is open to any feedback and opinion and does not insist on his view. The fifth and the last element of emotional intelligence is social skills that a leader must possess. Goleman (1996) described this element as something in which the leader is open to any idea or news regardless of how bad it is. The aim is to communicate with employees to make them an active part of the project. The employees feel contented when they are able to communicate with the leaders and other department of the organizations. Normally this is not the case. Either department are much separated from one another or in some cases are in different buildings. This creates a very unfriendly working environment in which the employees suffer. The role of the leader is to shape up the social skills of the employees so that they could interact with one another. Fayolle (2008), Hargie (2000) & (Hargie, 2005) are of the opinion that when employees are allowed to communicate between themselves then it creates an understanding and a bond of friendship towards them. This bond is very important between employees of different departments. The ideal example of this is what Walmart does. Because Walmart takes the feedback of its customers very seriously it allows the customer care department to freely communicate with the marketing department. The customer care department takes all the complaints from the customers and shares it with the marketing department. The marketing department then considers all the complaints and takes it to the manufacturing department of Walmart. Together they market and manufacture taking all the considerations of the customers. This is how social skills are improved in work place by promoting communication between employees. Emotional intelligence is not only important to make employees perform better but is also important for the general well being of the work force. When an emotional intelligent leader monitors business he does not allow any sort of discrimination. To him all the blacks in the work place are as equal as the whites. Roscigno (2007) explains that although we live in the 21st century but humanity has not been able to wipe out racism from the face of the earth. It remains one of the biggest issues in work place and conflicts on diurnal basis arise just because of the color of a man’s skin. Leaders with emotional intelligence do not tolerate any racism related issues. Discrimination regarding gender is one of the other reasons why emotional intelligence is fair and works better for the well being of people. Just like racism, leaders treat men and women equally or people with any disability equal to others. Cohn (2009) penetrated that every 1 out of 3 women reported of being molested in the working environment. This molestation came in the form of stalking, trying to take advantage of women by giving them extra work and considering them weak to their counter parts. However, hardly any women reported of such issues when working under an emotional intelligent leader. Reflection Emotionally intelligent leaders are more understanding as compared to the conservative leaders. They understand the environment around them and act accordingly. I feel such types of leaders are the ones that can make a difference. One of their attributes is to stay calm no matter how grave the situation is. This attribute greatly differentiates them with any type of leader. It is very easy to lose one’s head and take out all the frustration on the employees but it takes great courage and support the employees when they made a mistake or are going through a tough period. I feel that employees would also pay back in the same way they are treated. They will try their level best to make things right to the leader who stood by them. Emotionally intelligent leaders do not blame their employees for the wrong doings. If something goes wrong then they share the blame. This really comforts the employees in my opinion as they feel that their leader is working along with them to make the project go in the right direction. The mission and goals are very well directed by the leader. This is not done in all the leadership styles. Emotionally intelligent leaders take the responsibility of guiding the employees. I feel that the employees feel easy to work in situations where the objectives are clear. Also the goals are kept realistic as an emotionally intelligent leader sets realistic goals for its employees. One of the most important things in the work place is to maintain decorum. An emotionally intelligent leader tends to maintain work ethics. This is done by setting up an example from the front. A leader can only be called an emotionally intelligent leader when he is committed to project related work during work hours ignoring all his social activities. Watching television, chatting online with friends and family or playing games are not the task performed by an emotional intelligent leader. There is no wasting of time so that employees take inspiration from him and work like him. I feel this is a great attribute as it sets a perfect example for the followers. When the leader does not indulge in social activities it just becomes a law or a policy for the rest of the staff to avoid any such kind of activities. There are other leadership styles that prefer a bit of social indulgence during work but I feel that spoils the atmosphere in a working environment. Emotionally intelligent leaders know what it feels like to be an employee. They are kind towards them and take their opinion rather than forcibly assigning them tasks. I feel that this is a very interactive approach and only increases productivity. Although the leader designs the entire project but it is not possible for him to know each and every thing that has been going on. The employees could help the leader by giving him their feedback. There might be areas in the project that might require more attention and so the leader could be consulted and asked to focus more on the neglected area. In authoritative leadership style this is not possible. The employees do not have any say and they keep doing what they are asked to do. If there is an area that needs more focus in then focus will only come if the leader discovers it. Employees are often asked to do what they are assigned. This makes them less participative and less interested in the project. I feel performance increases when employees feel that they have contribution to make in the business. Not all the leaders encourage their employees to give a feedback and appreciate them if the work is done well. An emotionally intelligent leader however encourages and appreciates employees as it is a part of his job. One other important aspect of the job is to create good social skills of the work force. This is done by encouraging them to talk to employees of other departments. I feel this aspect is very important as the customer care must be in touch with the marketing department to tell them what the customer wants. Developing social skills is not just good for the leader and his work force but also for the consumers. List of References Adair, J., 2009. Leadership and Motivation: The Fifty-Fifty Rule and the Eight Key Principles. 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